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Externalist Theory Analysis

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Epistemic regress problem: the problem of how to avoid an infinite and presumably vicious regress of justification in one's account of the justification of empirical beliefs. Foundationalist theories of empirical knowledge, as we shall see further below, it attempts to avoid the regress by locating a class of empirical beliefs whose justification does not depend on that of other empirical beliefs. Externalist theories, the topic of the present paper, represent one species of foundationalism (Bonjour 363).
Clairvoyance: It means that reliable vision, seeing ability (Bonjour, 369).
Belief States: There are two belief states belief-dependent and belief independent works as cognitive processes. Simply belief-dependent represents memory and belief-independent …show more content…

Goldman especially defines justified belief through historical realism which combine Cartesian and Platonic version of realism in order to defend justification processes coming from outer senses are reliable. However Bonjour is against to his historical realism and externalism because our senses are not reliable. Given example of Norman the clairvoyant suggests that even if Norman’s clairvoyance is reliable and correct, it doesn’t mean he can justify himself just based on what he …show more content…

(6B) If S's belief in p at t results ("immediately") from a belief-dependent process that is (at least) conditionally reliable, and if the beliefs (if any) on which this process operates in producing S's belief in pat t are themselves justified, and then S's belief in p at t is justified. If we add to (6A) and (6B) the standard closure clause, we have a complete theory of justified belief. The theory says, in effect, that a belief is justified if and only if it is "well-formed;' i.e., it has an ancestry of reliable and/or conditionally reliable cognitive operations. (Since a dated belief may be over-determined, it may have a number of distinct ancestral trees. These need not all be full of reliable or conditionally reliable processes. But at least one ancestral tree must have reliable or conditionally reliable processes

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